Samantha Sharf
Forbes Staff
A weekend of rest did U.S. equity markets a lot of good.
The three major American stock indices finished trading Monday firmly in the green, making up steep losses suffered across the board last week. The Dow and S&P edged into positive territory for the year Monday after sinking to losses Friday. The Nasdaq added to its year-to-date gain and took a big step toward again crossing the 5,000 point mark it finally achieved earlier this month — only to sink away from it in last week’s beating.
The Nasdaq closed at 4,930 points Monday, up 4.1% for the year; the S&P was at 2,081, up 1.1%; and the Dow at 17,977, up 0.9%. The averages are up 1.2%, 1.4% and 1.3% respectively from Friday’s closing values. All three opened in positive territory and stayed there for the day.
The three major American stock indices finished trading Monday firmly in the green, making up steep losses suffered across the board last week. The Dow and S&P edged into positive territory for the year Monday after sinking to losses Friday. The Nasdaq added to its year-to-date gain and took a big step toward again crossing the 5,000 point mark it finally achieved earlier this month — only to sink away from it in last week’s beating.
The Nasdaq closed at 4,930 points Monday, up 4.1% for the year; the S&P was at 2,081, up 1.1%; and the Dow at 17,977, up 0.9%. The averages are up 1.2%, 1.4% and 1.3% respectively from Friday’s closing values. All three opened in positive territory and stayed there for the day.
The turnaround came as the U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies, providing some relief after months of dollar strength have hammered big American firms with exposure abroad. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.5% to 99.71.
Meanwhile the euro gained 0.7% against the dollar to 1.06 after falling to its low for year earlier in the day. Last week the European Central Bank began a bond-buying program in an effort to spark the straining eurozone economy.
Back home crude oil finished the day at $43.86 a barrel, a multi-year low.
All of this is adding to speculation about what the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee will decide to do about interest rates at its March meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. Recent market swings have been driven, at least in part, by investor interpretations of how the FOMC will respond to various economic data. The big question this time around is whether the word “patient” will remain in the statement as the Fed’s description of how long it will rate before raising rates. In testimony before Congress last month Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicated removing the phrase would mean the the committee could raise rates at any meeting — a prospect many investor don’t like.
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